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I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

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Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Do you believe that true beauty comes from within? That idea
is taken very literally in a new cookbook that offers nutrient dense dishes
that help balance gut health and thereby assist with keeping your complexion at
its best. The Beauty Chef: Delicious Food for Radiant Skin, Gut Health and Wellbeing by Carla Oates, of which I received a review copy, is
a guide to eating for a medicinal effect. Oates writes: “the food we eat
provides the ecosystem that interacts with our immune system to maintain our
health and skin and overall wellbeing.” Whether you choose to eat certain foods
specifically for their positive effect on skin conditions or you just want to
try these recipes packed with nutrition powerhouses, there are a lot of great
options here. First, there’s a list of nutrients with an explanation of why
each one is good for you along with the foods in which it’s found. Then,
throughout the recipes, the head note information will have some reminders
about those nutrients and which ones are in the dish. The chapters cover
Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Sides, Desserts, Baking, Drinks, and Basics.
I became hooked quickly after seeing the variety grains and fresh vegetables
used, the abundance of fermented pickles, and the use of less-refined
sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. There’s an Autumn Spice Smoothie Bowl
made with oats, banana, and almond butter and topped with poached pears that I
can’t wait to have for breakfast. And, I marked almost every page in the Lunch
chapter with dishes like Warm Cauliflower Couscous Salad with Roasted Roots,
Hazelnuts, and Crispy Spiced Chickpeas; Raw Rainbow Salad with Soft-boiled Egg
and Creamy Miso Dressing; Buckwheat Noodles with Miso-Roasted Pumpkin,
Caramelized Onion, and Umeboshi Plum Salad; and Lunch Wraps with Poached Chicken
and Celeriac and Roasted Almond Remoulade on homemade Millet and Linseed and
Spinach Wraps. If that all sounds a little too virtuous, bear in mind there are
also recipes for oven-fried chicken, bbq ribs, and creme brulee. But since I’ve
been going meatless and dairyless a little more often lately, I decided to
start with a snack of Almond, Olive, and Rosemary Crackers with Roasted Butternut
Squash, Chile, and Tahini Dip.

In the book, the crackers have “Cheesy” in the title, but I
don’t think that’s even necessary as a selling point. The cheesy flavor here
comes from nutritional yeast. These are gluten-free crackers made with almond
meal mixed with the yeast flakes, chopped Kalamata olives, fresh rosemary, and salt
and pepper. An egg white and some coconut oil hold the dough together. The
dough was rolled out between pieces of parchment paper. Then, it was scored and
left on the bottom piece of parchment for baking. There’s a nice tip for baking
the crackers: as the outside crackers become browned, they can be cut along the
scored lines and removed. Then, the pan can go back into the oven to brown the
rest of the crackers. The dip was a simple puree of roasted butternut squash, a
roasted tomato, and roasted garlic and chile. Tahini and lemon juice were added
to the food processor while pureeing.

The crackers have great, savory flavor with the olives and
rosemary and the underlying umami from the yeast flakes. If they lose their
crispness after sitting for a bit, they can be popped into a warm oven to bring
back their crunchy state. The butternut squash dip paired well with them. And,
sliced cucumbers made good vehicles for it as well. There are several more
things I’m eager to try from this book and it will be a nice bonus if I happen
to achieve a healthy glow in the process.

The combination of olive, rosemary and cheese
is a delight. However, in this dish I have used yeast flakes instead of cheese,
which are rich in B vitamins and a great substitute for the flavour of cheese.

Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF). Combine the
almond meal, savoury yeast flakes, olives, rosemary, salt and pepper in a
medium bowl. Add the egg white and oil and mix well to combine.

Roll the almond mixture out between two pieces
of baking paper, to make a 24 cm (9 1/2 in) square, approximately 2 mm (1⁄16
in) thick. Discard the top sheet of paper. Using a large knife, score the
almond mixture to make 24 crackers. Press the ends of a fork into the centre of
each cracker to mark. Transfer the crackers on the sheet of baking paper onto a
large baking tray (cookie sheet). Sprinkle with additional salt. Bake for 10–15
minutes, until light golden.

Remove from the oven and cut through the
scored marks. Separate into individual crackers. Remove the outer crackers that
are crisp and golden and set onto a rack to cool. Cook the remaining crackers
for a further 5 minutes, or until golden but not browned. Transfer onto the
rack and leave to cool completely. Serve with dips, spreads, or as part of a
meal.

Roasted pumpkin, chilli and tahini dip

MAKES 1 1/2 CUPS (SERVES 4)

A flavour-packed dip, starring pumpkin (winter
squash), which is a great source of skin-rejuvenating vitamin A. And did you
know that when you consume foods high in vitamin E – such as tahini (made from
sesame seeds) – around seven days later vitamin E is secreted through your sebum
to provide a protective layer?

Place the pumpkin and tomato on a baking tray (baking
sheet). Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes.

Turn the pumpkin, add the garlic and chile and
roast for a further 15 minutes, or until the garlic and chile are soft and the
pumpkin is tender and caramelised. Set aside to cool slightly.

Squeeze the garlic out of its skin. Peel the
tomato and chillies. Scrape the seeds out of the chiles and discard.

Place the pumpkin, tomato, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin
olive oil, garlic and chile in a high-speed food processor. Add the remaining
ingredients and blend until smooth. Season with salt. Serve with crudites, crackers or as part of a
meal.